PaleoBird, I'm a little more than 10 years younger than you and nearly a foot shorter, but our BMIs are virtually the same. I have not found it possible to lose ALL the weight I wanted just on pure PB - the first 30 lbs came off really easy, the last 10 have been harder and the next 10 are going to require a huge effort - right now I am hacking away at those last 10 lbs (and I mean "hacking" in both senses!) I'm trying to do VLC with intermittent fasting 20-22 hrs every 3rd day. I am also lifting heavy - not at Batty's level, but I can do a few sets of 100 lb squats - and I'm going to up my sprints to twice a week. I *think* this is working but I may end up needing to calorie restrict to some extent too.

Being post-menopausal will probably make it even more difficult for you - as women (and men, but to a lesser extent) age their bodies become more conservative with the energy. The obvious way to counteract this tendency is to pack on a little more muscle. I know you're not a huge fan of the lifting, but maybe add a bit in? Can't hurt.

It would make so much sense if I was like that too, NutMeg. I know I effortlessly lost weight when I became a whole foods vegan a couple years back and kept it off. I switched to carnivore because I read so much that made it sound like it was healthier, like Taubes, but then I ended up just getting heavier and heavier. So I'm just really at a loss as to the idea that carbs could actually make me LOSE weight. Flies right in the face of low carb, doesn't it?

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Reading this post (and several others that track along a similar path) I begin to wonder if PB really just works better for males than it does females (I'll exclude the extremely athletic females like Batty and Erica (of the *bazillion alternative pizza recipe* fame) from this observation). Maybe serious heavy workouts are necessary for real success in that last stack of pounds.

My primary interest lies in the fact that I know my wife is very likely to follow in my footsteps despite her current vegetarian ways should this truly turn into a success for me (previously she has been much more adept at losing weight than I am and it will totally get her goat if I start losing faster than she does - not a criticism, I just know the woman).

Interesting observation. It does seem ridiculously easy for some men.

Hehe. "get her goat" struck me as funny because I have goat leg stew simmering in the crockpot right now.

I think the thing with calorie-counting is, as Mark & Gary Taubes have pointed out - it is IMPOSSIBLE to accurately count calories, and calories are utilized differently by your body depending on the substance.

I understand where you're coming from - for instance, you can't eat completely excessively just because it's good food. I just think calories are a bad way to measure "excessive".

Right. You can't really eat all the bacon wrapped bacon in the world and still lose weight. So how do we measure it if not by calories?

Paleobird, count me among those who don't see "effortless weight loss" with the primal way of eating, and I'm about 100 pounds overweight. I purchased a FitDay download awhile back, and I find that if I track what I'm eating, I can lose weight (but slowly). If I don't track, I tend to gain most of it back. I think I need to have the data in front of me, or I'll tend to put too much in my mouth without thinking. I also like to see the fat/carb/protein breakdown, and I find that when I'm regularly tracking my food there is usually an "Aha!" moment when I see that something isn't as good I thought it was.

Do you ever take your blood sugar readings? If you follow the Heart Scan Blog, you'll see that Dr. Davis thinks that postprandial BS readings have a great deal to do with whether you lose weight or not. I wonder how your BS reacts to no food for nearly 24 hours, then suddenly getting all your calories at once. It may be a perfectly normal reaction, but if that normal reaction spikes your BS > 110 or 120 or so (which CW will tell you is fantastic), so then it may inhibit weight loss.

PaleoBird, I'm a little more than 10 years younger than you and nearly a foot shorter, but our BMIs are virtually the same. I have not found it possible to lose ALL the weight I wanted just on pure PB - the first 30 lbs came off really easy, the last 10 have been harder and the next 10 are going to require a huge effort - right now I am hacking away at those last 10 lbs (and I mean "hacking" in both senses!) I'm trying to do VLC with intermittent fasting 20-22 hrs every 3rd day. I am also lifting heavy - not at Batty's level, but I can do a few sets of 100 lb squats - and I'm going to up my sprints to twice a week. I *think* this is working but I may end up needing to calorie restrict to some extent too.

Being post-menopausal will probably make it even more difficult for you - as women (and men, but to a lesser extent) age their bodies become more conservative with the energy. The obvious way to counteract this tendency is to pack on a little more muscle. I know you're not a huge fan of the lifting, but maybe add a bit in? Can't hurt.

Some extra sprints sound like a good idea. Plus maybe moving up some levels on my LHT workouts (which I do at home). I just don't see myself ever getting back in the gym. It's just too much of an 80s flashback for me.

Paleobird, count me among those who don't see "effortless weight loss" with the primal way of eating, and I'm about 100 pounds overweight. I purchased a FitDay download awhile back, and I find that if I track what I'm eating, I can lose weight (but slowly). If I don't track, I tend to gain most of it back. I think I need to have the data in front of me, or I'll tend to put too much in my mouth without thinking. I also like to see the fat/carb/protein breakdown, and I find that when I'm regularly tracking my food there is usually an "Aha!" moment when I see that something isn't as good I thought it was.

Do you ever take your blood sugar readings? If you follow the Heart Scan Blog, you'll see that Dr. Davis thinks that postprandial BS readings have a great deal to do with whether you lose weight or not. I wonder how your BS reacts to no food for nearly 24 hours, then suddenly getting all your calories at once. It may be a perfectly normal reaction, but if that normal reaction spikes your BS > 110 or 120 or so (which CW will tell you is fantastic), so then it may inhibit weight loss.

Not being diabetic or anywhere near it, I have never felt the need to measure blood sugar levels. When I'm fasting, I don't feel like the typical "low blood sugar" weakness, shaky feeling or any of that stuff. If anything I feel really good. Alive, focused, intense. My workouts are great fasting.

Then there is the question of if I really need to lose 30 lbs or if some chart just says I do. I donít care about charts. I know what I look like naked and itís not what I want to see. Also, even though I am healthy now, I would like to prevent the health problems that can be a result of excess weight down the line. (Also I am not one of those size 2 people needing help getting to size 0. I am 5'10" and 180 but I would like to be 150)

Haven't read the whole thread, but was struck by this.... 5"10? size 10? That seems to be exactly the size someone your height should be wearing.... (If not a 12). Are you sure you really have 30 pounds to lose?

Not being diabetic or anywhere near it, I have never felt the need to measure blood sugar levels. When I'm fasting, I don't feel like the typical "low blood sugar" weakness, shaky feeling or any of that stuff. If anything I feel really good. Alive, focused, intense. My workouts are great fasting.

It's not about diabetes. It's about weight loss, and about understanding how your body metabolizes your food. Here is a link to a blog post explaining it. A lot of people here in the MDA forums read Dr. Davis' blog, myself included, and have a lot of respect for what he says since he seems to be one of those MD's who really "gets" it.